An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has convicted two men for facilitating the purchase of a vehicle used in the deadly October 2024 attack on a convoy carrying Chinese nationals near Karachi airport.
The court found trader Saeed Ali and bank officer Bilal guilty of facilitating the transaction and arranging funds through a private bank in Hub, Balochistan, to purchase the vehicle used in the attack.
The October 2024 bombing claimed the lives of two Chinese nationals and one Pakistani citizen.
ATC-V Judge, who conducted the trial at the judicial complex inside Karachi Central Prison, sentenced Bilal to 10 years and three years in prison on separate charges, while Saeed was handed seven-year and two-year prison terms.
The court ordered that all sentences would run concurrently.
During the trial, both convicts denied the allegations. Saeed told the court that he had no association with the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) or any other militant organisation.
Bilal also denied involvement in the attack, maintaining that he was performing his duties at the bank and had no knowledge of the suicide bomber’s intended use of the transaction.
He claimed he had been implicated because the suicide bomber had been his university fellow.
According to the prosecution, the vehicle was purchased from a showroom for Rs7.1 million, with Saeed and Bilal allegedly facilitating the transaction. The vehicle was subsequently fitted with explosives and used in the bombing, the prosecution said.
The Counter Terrorism Department registered a case under Sections 11-F, 11-N and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, relating to membership or support of a proscribed organisation, fundraising or use of funds for terrorism, and aid and abetment.
